


please could you be tender (and i will sit close to you)

by its_tortle



Series: tumblr drabbles and ficlets [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Cuddling, Drabble, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Outsider, Post-Stranger Things 3, Recreational Drug Use, Sappy, Short One Shot, Sort Of, Tumblr Prompt, Wordcount: 100-1.000, high school party, if robin counts as an outsider, like months ago, mostly an AU though, so this is not new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26768191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_tortle/pseuds/its_tortle
Summary: written months ago based on the tumblr prompt "Come here, baby, I need you closer" for the lovelyawickedplacethisis
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Series: tumblr drabbles and ficlets [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951201
Comments: 6
Kudos: 74





	please could you be tender (and i will sit close to you)

**Author's Note:**

> i am stupidly unable to find my original post, because it was before i started using tumblr in earnest and i must have not tagged it proficiently. oops.
> 
> (title from hard feelings by lorde)

Robin has known about Steve and Billy for about a month now, but watching them be so warm with each other now, still all bark but no bite, is still strange. Not bad strange, but strange.

Billy still maintains an air of nonchalance, of coolness, in front of Robin, despite his clear fondness for Steve. He’s affectionate and sweet and treats Steve right from what she can tell (as he damn well should), but he’s still Billy, which means there’s a whole lot of teasing and a whole lot of “I don’t do cute shit” attitude. 

Knowing Steve is a romantic, she wonders if Billy is more open with his affection when it’s just them. She tries to imagine what he would say or do or be like if he just let himself be the sappy guy she suspects he really is underneath all the bad boy demeanor, but comes up a bit short. 

As it turns out, that demeanor falls away when he’s drunk, or high, or probably a bit of both, and she stops having to imagine it.

Robin, Steve, and Billy all decide to go to Joanna Kirk’s party together. They haven’t been to a proper party in months, probably, and as much as they resent many of their former classmates, they thought it might be beneficial to get out of their shared-trauma-bubble and pretend they’re normal teenagers for a night. Also, there’s not too many places in Hawkins where you can get booze when you’re underage, so Joanna’s it is.

Now, sitting on a sofa with Steve at two am, Robin watches the party gradually wind down around her. There’s red cups and empty bottles strewn across every surface, including the floor, and the air is stuffy and smells like sweat and smoke and a little bit of puke. She’s coming down from being drunk, though, so she doesn’t find that she minds all that in the moment. Her head feels light and a little fluffy, and there’s a pleasant warmth in her veins. 

Steve, planning to be sober enough to drive them home, had switched to soda around midnight and had effectively worn off his inebriation. When she tunes back into the sound of his voice, he’s talking about the new Wham! album and picking at a loose string on his sleeve.

It feels delightfully normal. It feels like what an eighteen year old girl should be doing on a Saturday night.

She interrupts Steve’s ramble to point out Robert’s miserable dance moves to him. They laugh and watch him stumble around, trying, and failing, to impress some girl who’s name Robin has already forgotten.

They’re still giggling about it when Billy ambles into the hazy living room. He looks a little out of it, maybe drunk or maybe high, maybe both, really. He’d gone out on the patio with some of the guys from the basketball team over an hour ago and hadn’t shown himself since.

His eyes scan the room, somehow still startingly blue despite the dim lighting a smoky air, and when they land on where Robin and Steve are perched on the loveseat, his face breaks out into a dopey smile.

Despite the fact that Billy and Steve aren’t out to anyone but Robin yet, Billy shamelessly sits himself down right on Steve’s lap and nuzzles into his neck. Steve looks surprised for a moment or two, but then puts his arm around Billy’s back as casually as he can and pulls back to see his boyfriend’s face. (Most of the people at the party are too wasted to notice the couple, and even if they do, they’re going to Cali next month anyway) 

“You okay, B?”, Steve asks. His voice is tender, but not overbearing, and Robin wonders not for the first time how he was ever made to feel like a bad boyfriend.

Billy grabs him back in by the neck and mumbles, “Baby, come here, I need you closer,” and Robin’s eyebrows just about shoot up into her hairline. She’s never heard Billy so openly schmaltzy before, but Steve looks only mildly perturbed.

“You’re literally on my lap,” he points out amusedly. “Don’t know if I can get much closer than that, sweetheart.”

Robin can’t quite make out what Billy says next, but it sounds something along the lines of, “not close enough.”

Steve responds with an affectionate roll of his eyes, and tries to pry Billy from him just enough so that he can get up.

Billy resists.

“Come on, we gotta get you home,” Steve urges. When Billy doesn’t budge again, he adds, “I promise you can get me as close as you want me there, yeah?”

Billy looks up a little blearily and seems to consider Steve’s offer. He must decide it worth his time as he gets up suddenly, stumbling only a bit, and promptly pulls Steve up and out of the room.

Robin sighs. She’ll have to ask Melissa for a ride again.

**Author's Note:**

> comment and kudos are, of course, dearly appreaciated. follow me on [tumblr](https://tumblr.com/blog/its-tortle) for more drabbles and gif edits and reblogs if you are so inclined. :)


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